Latest Travel Developments in Mexico Christine Delsol - SFGate
go to original March 27, 2013

Years of restoring publica spaces, has paid off for Mexico City. Once viewed as too congested and crime-ridden to visit, the capital has become one of Mexico's safer and most tourist-friendly locations. (Alexandre Meneghini/Associated Press)

Two things were abundantly clear from the day one of Mexico's Tianguis Turistico, the largest travel trade show and conference in Latin America, held in Puebla last week.

First, the shift in emphasis from the sun-and-sand destinations that have lured the bulk of visitors to the country to the often overlooked interior repositories of history and culture continues apace under the new administration of Enrique Peña Nieto and his secretary of tourism, Claudia Ruiz Massieu.

Second, Mexico isn't sitting around waiting for U.S. tourists to overcome their fears that stepping foot in Mexico means instant death. The well-publicized drug cartel violence has declined in the past year but is still very much present in areas where trafficking corridors are in contention, and the new administration has already begun reforms aimed at combating the cartel violence. But the tourism department has moved on from damage control to elevating the country's tourist industry into the ranks of the world's top destinations.

As its next-door neighbor, the United States is still very important, but Mexico has worked hard (and very successfully) to entice travelers from other countries. Thailand, Turkey, Slovenia and Lithuania were among the nations attending Tianguis for the first time this year.

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